NORFOLK, Va. – Head coach of the Old Dominion University women’s basketball team, Karen Barefoot, announced the Lady Monarchs 11 games for their non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2014-15 season, which ODU will face four teams that participated in postseason play a year ago and three squads from within the state of Virginia.

Barefoot commented, “Our 2014-2015 non-conference schedule is challenging, exciting and provides our fans, students and alumni the opportunity to see some of the nation’s best teams like Duke, Louisville and California, as well as our traditional in-state rivals like VCU, W&M and Virginia Tech.”

The schedule is highlighted by three schools in which ESPN’s Charlie Crème has ranked in the Top 20 of his 2014-15 Preseason rankings: No. 7 Duke, No. 11 California and No. 16 Louisville. All three of these schools also finished the 2013-14 season ranked in the Top 20: No. 4 Louisville, No. 9 Duke and No. 20 California, with Louisville and Cal coming off Final Four appearances in the 2012-13 season.

The Lady Monarchs will open their schedule with a three-game home swing at the Ted Constant Convocation Center beginning Nov. 14 against Presbyterian. The Lady Monarchs will then play former CAA rival William & Mary as part of the annual Optima Health Challenge on Nov. 17, and 2013 NCAA Tournament participant Duke on Nov. 20. The Blue Devils finished their last season with a 28-7 record and reached the 2014 NCAA Tournament Second Round.

Old Dominion will then hit the road for the first time all season when they visit Blacksburg to square-off with in-state rival Va. Tech on Nov. 25.

The Lady Monarchs will return home to play three straight home games against Rider on Nov. 30, Howard on Dec. 3 (Education Day) and historic rival and 2014 WNIT Tournament participant VCU in Richmond on Dec. 5.

Old Dominion will hit the road once again to play No. 4 and 2014 NCAA quarterfinalist Louisville in Kentucky, on Dec. 15.

The game against the Cardinals will be followed by a trip to Las Vegas, where the Lady Monarchs will take on Miami of Ohio on Saturday, Dec. 20 and then the University of Illinois at Chicago on Dec. 21. UIC is coached by ODU alumni and former assistant coach, Regina Miller.

The Lady Monarchs will close their non-conference schedule on the road facing No. 20 and 2014 NCAA Tournament participant California on Dec. 29.

Old Dominion finished their 2013-14 campaign with a record of 18-16 and earned their second consecutive at-large bid to WNIT, as they finished the season winning nine of their last 13 games, while handing Southern Miss their only home loss of the season. The Lady Monarchs return the majority of last season’s team, including four starters for this upcoming season. In fact, 10 players in all will return from last year’s roster including three players of the top four point scorers. On top of all that, Barefoot’s recruiting class has been ranked No. 43 for 2014-15 by the All-Star Report.

Old Dominion averaged an astonishing 2,884 fans per contest for the 2013-14 regular season, which was second in Conference USA and ranked No. 38 in the country.